Katy

Q1. An everlasting Kingdom is an anomaly to us because there has been no such thing in world history. There is always somebody else waiting to get into power. Most people are only concerned with looking after themselves and ruling a country brings status, wealth and many other perks. Even if someone is ruling well there are still others who want to take the position away from them. Our Lord is different when He comes to claim His kingdom it will be for us, because He loves us and wants the best for us. This kingdom under His rule will last for ever. Q2.A just and righteousness government is so rare because we are by nature sinful. People often enjoy the status of being in government also the power and the perks. They may start off with ambitions to govern well but can get caught up in bending rules and acquiescing to people’s demands. Q3.The justice Jesus will bring will be different to anything we have known. It will be a reign of peace, all suffering and sorry will be gone, those who have perpetrated evil on others including children will be punished so justice will be done. It will be a time of love, peace, rejoicing and adoration. Come Lord Jesus come.

Q1. Jesus is the Mighty God and Everlasting Father , He is a divine child , at the same time He is always present, always has been, is just now and will be in the future. He is eternally a Father to all who love and follow Him. Jesus is Wonderful Counselor because His wisdom is beyond our understanding and we can only be amazed by it. Everything He does in the way of plans, designs and purposes are marvellous. Jesus is Prince of Peace because He is the only one who can bring about true reconciliation, and wholeness . He is the only one who can give us peace beyond understanding. Q2. The knowledge of these titles makes me bow in adoration and humility. At the same time I know I have nothing to fear or worry about because I belong to Him. Jesus will counsel me as needed, He will provide all I need, He will be with me always and He will show me His true peace. Amen

Q1. People choose to live in darkness because of many things such as unbelief, they don’t want to take the necessary steps of faith, they are too absorbed by the things of this world, they are aware of the sin within them but don’t want to let it go or don’t know how they can stop sinning. Q2.People resist the light of Jesus because they don’t realise the blessings of walking with Jesus, they feel it is an imposition on their lives. They may not want to get rid of the sin in their lives. Q3.I get distracted by the things of this world and fail to spend sufficient time in prayer and study. Q4.Galilee was transformed from a dark gloomy place into a place where Jesus was present and brought wonderful blessings to the people. Q5.Walking in the light has made me a better friend more faithful, loving, patient and non judgemental. At least I hope I am!

Q1.The promise of blessings were for all people who follow Jesus and believe He is the Son of God. Q2. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son , his only son because God asked him to do so. God the Father was also willing to sacrifice His only Son so that our sins might be forgiven. Both Abraham and Jesus were willing to be obedient to God.

Q1.Judah’s tribe is powerful and strong and therefore described as the Lion of Judah. Q2. Jesus is the Son of God and therefore qualify’s to gain the ruling sceptre. He was also a descendant of the line of Judah and prophecy speaks of His coming. Genesis 49v10. Q3.Obedience is hard for us because we are full of pride, we want to be in control and do what we want to do. Q4. Obedience is important for us because if we want to follow Jesus we must be humble and submit to God. He is in control of all things and knows what is best for us.

Q1.Jesus doesn’t directly answer the question but goes on to tell the people listening what they must do to make sure that they will be among those who are saved. Q2. The narrowness of the door has to do with the fact that it takes effort to get through the narrow door. So not everyone will get through it. Q3.The host gets up and closes the door when all is ready for the banquet. It is up to us to be present and ready to partake when the door closes. We have been warned so there is no excuse for us. We must also communicate this to others to help them to be ready and to realise that the time to repent and believe is now. Q4.We are to work with God and repent of our sins, work to get to know and love the Lord, this we do by study, and listening to sermons, by using faithfully the privilege of prayer, and by serving others as Jesus did while here on earth. This will help us to get through the narrow door and show our Lord and Saviour that we truly do love Him and desire to spend eternity in His presence. It will also show we do not assume we are automatically going to heaven . Q5.If someone hears the gospel and puts off the committing their lives to God , and if they do this a number of times their heart will become hard towards God and eventually they loose all desire for anything to do with God. A person may hear the gospel once reject it and never get another opportunity to hear it again. God may call someone in death before they decide to give their heart to Him. The Lord May return at anytime, it will be without any warning and it will be too late then. Q6. It will be a wonderful time that I have waited for over many years. A time when I will be in the presence of my Lord and Saviour and I will worship and adore Him and it will never end. Q7.Revelation 19v9 tells us that we are Blessed if we are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. I think it is the coming together of Christ and His Bride, which is His church , made up of Christians from all ages. Hopefully we will all be part of this gathering. Q8. The Jews were the ones chosen by God to be His ‘chosen people’ but they did not act as God desired them to act, and so Paul was sent to the gentiles. The Gentiles may be first and not the Jews as they expect unless they repent and do as the Lord desires.

Q1.Both Mary and Elizabeth were experiencing a miracle pregnancy, so they had a lot in common. They were both filled with the Spirit. Elizabeth prophecies about Mary’s pregnancy and that she was carrying the Son of God. The child in her womb leaped for joy when Mary arrived. What an encouragement it must have been for Mary to have Elizabeth an older lady to talk to and share her thoughts and troubles with,knowing that she would understand and not judge her wrongly. What a joy for Elizabeth to have Mary the mother of her Lord come to her and share her pregnancy as well as all her fears and joy. Seeing each other faith would have grow and strengthened their faith. I visit some elderly people who cannot get out, and encourage them and comfort them. I always come away feeling I have received more than I have given. I try to encourage my grandchildren especially in times of trouble and worry. I receive comfort from a few close Christian friends that I pray with and socialise with. Praise God for them.

Q1. Mary was given the unique honour of bearing the Son of God. This honour would cost her dearly. She would loose her reputation. Nobody would understand what was happening to Mary apart from the fact that she was having a baby out of wedlock. She also risked loosing her betrothed Joseph, she didn’t know at the time that Joseph would have his own encounter which would result in him taking Mary and looking after her. Mary’s response to the angel showed that she was willing to accept this great responsibility from God despite how it will affect her personal ly . She is willing to trust God and to be obedient to His. The lesson for me as a disciple of God is that I also need to trust God and obey His whatever the personal cost.

Q1. These parables show us clearly that small beginnings are not to be despised. The kingdom of God started off with Jesus teaching and then the disciples taking over and spreading the gospel further afield until large areas were converted. The disciples needed to understand this so that they didn’t become discouraged and feel like giving up. Q2. They needed to understand that they would carry on the work of Jesus and spend their lives following His example of spreading the gospel. Initially they would be just the disciples and growth would be slow but given time the gospel will spread like the yeast in the bread and grow like the mustard tree and we see that that growth is still taking place all over the world. Q3.I support a few Christian Organisations that work in Asia and Africa and through them I have learnt a lot about just how God’s Kingdom is advancing. However I feel progress is slow in the west. I think society is going more and more secular and just do not want to hear about anything to do with the things of God. I need to expand my vision to believe that God will be merciful to my family and save them despite their rejection of Him. I know He is able and I know He is not willing that anyone should perish but everyone to come to repentance and eternal life. Q4. The area I am discouraged in is to do with how little I feel I have done for the Lord in my years as a Christian. As I grow older I feel I come in contact with less people and my sphere of influence is small and yet even those within my sphere are not following Jesus. I try to use every opportunity to speak about Him in a natural way. I have prayed for years and yet not one have taken the step of trusting Jesus. They know the gospel and my three children made commitments years ago but all walked away after a few years. My husband won’t take the step even though we talk about God very often, but he just doesn’t have faith. I can apply these parables by knowing that God will use every little thing I have done to influence others. I may never see it or know it started by something I said or prayed. Thank you Heavenly Father.

Q4. By human terms it seemed so unlikely that Peter could escape the clutches of Herod and the dark , secure prison in which he was being held. So they prayed and prayed into the depth of night. The Lord answered in a most dramatic and wonderful way. But the believers didn’t believe that the Lord had answered. I wonder why? I don’t think it was lack of faith, maybe they didn’t feel their prayers were good enough, maybe they thought the Lord had a different plan for Peter’s life, or that so many had died that this would be no different, maybe they hadn’t really experienced answered prayer before and they weren’t sure if God would answer. Maybe it was lack of faith! I think faith grows stronger and stronger as we see more and more prayer answered. Equally we grow to trust God when He chooses to not answer prayer in the way we would like Him to answer. As our relationship with Jesus deepens so our trust deepens and prayer and communication with Jesus becomes more and more important.

Q3.The gift of money collected from believers in one church and delivered to a church in need because of famine shows a great example of the love Jesus talked about. It shows the receiving church that their fellow believers have not forgotten them. They care and love them so much that they are willing to contribute from what they have to give the sufferers some relief. It reminds me of the body of Christ being like a human body , when one part is hurting the other parts feel the pain. So often when Christians are suffering they can feel forgotten, alone, isolation. It is so encouraging for them to receive a financial gift, or just a few lines written on a card, or a reminder that other believers are praying for them. In this situation in our passage, it must be a relief to be able to buy some food when you are really hungry. Caring has been a hallmark of believers for many years. Christians have the mind set of Christ, and He was always full of compassion and love. So it is natural that we should follow His example. It is a way of establishing trust and a relationship with people, which may lead to questions as to why we care, and with God’s help they may eventually accept Jesus as Lord in their lives. When missionaries go to poor countries they always encounter poor people, very often it is poverty beyond anything they have ever experienced before and they work to help them. When the charity work is overemphasised there is a danger of becoming overwhelmed and working too hard and time spent with the Lord is forfeited . In this situation it is even more important to spend time seeking His face to determine His will, and seek His help. When the work of caring is not considered important we are neglecting a way of directly imitating Jesus. This will lead to loss of opportunities to build relationships and trust. It could lead to lost opportunities to win people to Christ. If we as followers of Christ don’t care for the needy who will? There are some non Christians who do good work looking after the needy but most secular people are too busy and wrapped up in their own lives to care for others.

Q2.Barnabas whose name was Joseph was a Levite, and a native of Cyprus. He was therefore able to speak Greek and was very familiar with Greek culture. This enabled him to understand and get on with the founder evangelists in Antioch. He was also a generous man aware of the needy and willing to help them. He was a devout man full of the Holy Spirit. He spent some time in Antioch as a missionary sent by the Jerusalem church. Many came to put their trust in Jesus. He needed help, so set off to Tarsus in search of Paul. Barnabas had helped Paul before by bringing him to Brothers in Jerusalem, who were afraid of Paul because of his reputation as a persecuter of Christians. Barnabas knew how Paul had come to faith and how zealous he now was for the Lord. He also knew where Paul was and maybe the Lord had prompted him to seek help from Paul. Paul had just spent ten years living quietly studying and speaking to people about Jesus so he was probably looking forward to a specific work to do for the Lord. Paul also may have been told by God that He had a new assignment for him, we are not told.

Q1. Jews and gentiles didn’t mix very much as the Jews considered gentiles to be pagan and unclean. They were considered unclean because they ate everything and had no dietary restrictions as the Jews had. Paul in particular because of his background of being a Pharisee would not think about having anything to do with a gentile and certainly not to sit down and eat with him. Then the Lord put Paul into a trance and showed him a vision of all kinds of animals and told him to eat. The Lord was showing him that He wanted Paul to go to the gentiles and in particular starting with Cornelius and his friends.. Because of the persecution in Jerusalem people fled to other areas including Samaria , here the gospel is preached first by Philip and spreads to the Samaritans. Before this Jews and Samaritans did not mix as the Jews considered Samaritans to be half breeds because of intermarriage. People in Antioch started to come to Christ from there Paul brought the gospel to gentiles along the Mediterranean and as far as Rome.

Q1.This poor lady was bent over and unable to straighten her back. She would have been in a lot of pain, which probably made her look older than she actually was. If she had ankylosing spondylitis she would have developed that before she was 30 years old, so she was no older than 48 years. But chronic pain wears you down and has a way of making a person look old. She probably felt miserable because of the pain and troubled by the demonic presence in her body. She was probably poor and isolated without many supportive friends or family. Q2. As soon as Jesus said the words and Jesus reached out and put both hands on her. She was freed from the demonic presence in her and she straightened up immediately. Jesus power was greater than the power of Satan and it was expelled instantly. She was full of praise for what had happened to her. Q3.Everyone was rejoicing for the crippled lady except the synagogue ruler, he sat there with a scowl on his face. All he was thinking was that Jesus had broken the Sabbath, he was so caught up in the legalism that he could not see what a wonderful thing Jesus had done. The most important thing to him was that the Sabbath rules, many of which were man made , were kept. He did not care about the suffering of the lady or the mercy and compassion of Jesus. Unfortunately his blindness is credible because throughout the Bible we see Jewish Leader without love or compassion for the people they are only interested in making sure all the extra laws made by man were adhered to. Q4.To the Jewish leaders it was acceptable to untying a donkey on the Sabbath in order for it to get water, but they were angry because Jesus had ‘untied’ or set free this lady who had been bound by Satan and disease for eighteen years. This synagogue ruler lacked any understanding or compassion. Q5. Sickness is the result of the fall, in this way sickness is from Satan, but it is a general punishment for sin. I think when Satan sees a weakness in a person he attacks through the weakness. Sometimes Satan is allowed by God to inflict us but only as far as God allows. I don’t think God would give Satan the ‘right’ to afflict us with disease without God being ultimately in control of it. Unfortunately often disease is caused by our sin and excesses, which goes back to Satan! Q6. Jesus is being compassionate and loving. He knows what this lady has been through for eighteen years and He is affirming her by calling her ‘Daughter of Abraham’. He is telling her she is someone special, an important person worthy of His attention and He loves her. Yes I have had reassuring words from God, sometimes reading His word, a verse can just speak so clearly of love and reassurance.

Q5. There are some incidents of people speaking in tongues in the Bible but this doesn’t mean that it is essential to speak in tongues to become a Christian. There are many Spirit filled Christians who do not speak in tongues.

Q4. Jesus is dependent on the Holy Spirit because He had emptied Himself of all His power in order to fully experience being human. When we become Christians we are filled with the Holy Spirit but when we need to do something particularly difficult we can ask God for a special in filling of the Holy Spirit.

Q3.God was sending three men to Peter to ask him to visit Cornelius. As Cornelius was a gentile God had to tell Peter that it was time to unlearn all he had learnt since early childhood about clean and unclean foods. Peter would have regarded gentiles as people who were unclean because there were no limits on what types of food they ate. Jews had a very long list of things God permitted them to eat and not to eat. Peter’s religion would have taught him that to mix with gentiles was to mix with unclean people. That was not acceptable to any Jewish family. The voice told Peter” Do not call anything impure that God has made clean”. V15. This revelation changes Peters attitude to the dietary laws. He shows this straight away by greeting the three strangers, making them welcome for the night and having dinner with them. He would really show he has changed when he is invited to eat at the home of Cornelius.

Q2. It is hard to imagine that anything in the way of prayer and obedience can give God pleasure but these verses in our study show us that God does get pleasure from our prayers and acts of service for Him. I am reminded of the verse in Zephaniah 3v17( Isaiah 62v4) The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Not the same context but lovely thoughts. Yes I believe by doing the things God asks me to do I am being obedient but also I belief that brings pleasure to God.

Q1. We learn that Cornelius was a literate man, at least 30 years old, he had the ability to encourage good morale and to maintain discipline. He was seeking after God, and we are told in Acts 10v2. That Cornelius and his family were devout and God fearing. He also had a reputation of being generous to the needy. He also prayed regularly. Acts 10v 22 tells that he was a righteousness man , God fearing and was respected by the Jewish people. I think God revealed Himself to Cornelius because of his character. He was seeking God and he prayed constantly. He would be a good person to have on your side. He would get things done and yet he would do things and bring people with him. People would listen to him because they respected him. Cornelius was no more worthy of salvation than anyone else because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone no matter who they are must turn from sin and repent before God can forgive their sin.

Q1.When some members of a family are following Jesus and others are not it can bring division and discord within the family. Those that are following Jesus long to see the other family members join them in recognising Jesus for who He is. We are all individuals with free choice, so each one has to come to the decision to follow Jesus. Talking and arguing will not work. Once we Christians have explained the gospel and spoken about God’s great love for us, we need to go to prayer and pray without ceasing for our families.Jesus speaks about it in His word so that we will be prepared and are not surprised when it happens within our families. Q2.In Genesis 6v5 it says The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The situation on earth is very similar today and I think that God will not endure man’s wickedness and denial of His presence. We are also told in Matthew 24v6-8 about things that will happen in the end times and these things are happening now! We will not know for sure when the Lord will return but it is up to each one of us to be ready and waiting. We have no excuse. Q3. If we are guilty of sin, and we all are, we need to come before the Lord and confess our sins and repent and make changes in our lives. There is no point in hoping that our sin will be overlooked or that it wasn’t too bad and there will be no consequences. We live in a time of grace but soon Judgement is coming. Q4.We learn that if we go through worse suffering than others it doesn’t mean we have committed worse sins than others. We have all sinned and will be punished unless we repent. Q5.The fig tree is not healthy and isn’t producing any fruit, after three years the owner has had enough and wants his gardener to get rid of the tree. The gardener wants to give the tree a chance and asks the owner to spare the tree for another year. He makes a plan of how he is going to give this tree another chance to produce fruit for its owner and save the life of the tree. This is a picture of Jesus mercy towards me , I don’t deserve His goodness and mercy but He gives me chance after chance to repent of my sin, instead of throwing me straight into hell.

Q3. The spiritual analogy is that if we act like this faithful manager, and carry out God’s wishes as He wants us to we will be rewarded for our faithfulness and given responsibility in the New Heaven when it comes. Revelation 2v10. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. Q4.The leader in this parable becomes impatient and looses his focus on his job and his master. His own pride and sinfulness takes over. He forgets about his master and takes over his role of disciplining his servants and using his master luxuries for his own gratification. In our world today it is seen when people live as though there is no God, and their main focus is on themselves and what they want. Unfortunately a life lived like that incurs God’s wrath and eternal punishment. Q.5.I believe God has given me much from two points of view First I have the privilege of knowing Him as my Lord and Saviour and having my Bible freely available to read and study. Secondly I have much from a material point of view…. Compared to many people throughout the world I am very wealthy, by standards in Europe I have sufficient to meet my needs without many luxuries. With both of these situations I have responsibilities, first I must share my faith with those I come in contact with every day. I must help others to come to know my Lord and Saviour. Secondly I must share the material things I have with those less well off than I am. I am given these gifts from God to use for myself but also to use to help others. Everything I have comes from the Lord and when I use them for the Lord all I am doing is giving back part of what He has given to me.

Q4. In our passage we see two people Aneneas and Dorcas being helped by Peter. Aneneas had been crippled for eight years and was dependent on those about him for the everyday routine of life. Peter heals him and changed his life . We are told that All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. Acts 9v 35. Dorcas had actually died but Peter brought her back to life. This lady was very well know because she was so good and kind to people especially those who were in need. The city where Dorcas lived was a big city and word traveled around fast about what had taken place. The result was that many came to believe in Jesus. The result was a great revival. If I was blessed with the spiritual gift of healing I would be obedient and use it for the glory of God.

Q3. The role of debate and argument in evangelism is to discuss and talk about things that people don’t understand or misunderstand or just don’t agree with in Christianity. This must be done in a gentle and respectful way. The more we know about the Bible and the most common stumbling blocks to believing the divinity of Jesus the more able we will be to confidently debate and lead people to the truth about Jesus and all He did for us. I do not feel prepared to debate the divinity of Jesus.

Q2.God uses Ananias to help Saul by going to him, in order for Saul to receive the Holy Spirit and so that Saul’s sight might be restored. Ananias was instrumental in preparing Saul for this very new and different journey he is about to embark on. Ananias listened to what the Lord Jesus had to say to him about Saul, he did question and tell the Lord why Saul was present in Damascus. Ananias still listened and obeyed Jesus despite his own feelings. This is a lesson for us… Ananias didn’t understand, this was a man all Christians fled from and Jesus wanted him to go to Saul. Despite all his misgivings, after his initial words to Jesus, He listened to Jesus and he obeyed , we must also listen and obey when we are being directed by the Lord. No matter how hard it may be we must have faith and trust in the One who is directing us. We have great examples of those who trusted God in the Bible: Ambraham left everything he knew and set off not knowing where he was going. Noah built an ark even though he was miles from any water and he was being scoffed at by all his neighbours. Because God had directed these two men they listened and obeyed. I don’t know if I am prepared! I hope I would know for sure that God was directing me and that I would listen and obey my Lord and Saviour.

Q1.The church and Jesus are one and the same. The church is the body and Christ is the head. While we are here on earth we are God’s representatives , we work alongside God ,He is the foundation and the only worthwhile foundation. We must also use the right materials to build with. Whatever small tasks that we do we must not look for credit to God be the glory! All reverence must be given to Christ’s Church because it is part of Him.